Jack McFarland
John Philip "Jack" McFarland is Will's best friend. He is also close friends with Grace and Karen. For most of the series, he is a struggling actor who jumps from work to work. He is portrayed by American actor Sean Hayes. Biography Jack was born in February 16th 1969 and was raised by Judith and Daniel McFarland. As a kid, he was babysat by Sissy. Jack recalls that his father was discouraging and cruel to him growing up gay. According to Jack, Daniel passed out when he came out to him, at which point he had to perform CPR. During elementary school, Jack got teased a lot with bullies calling him "Jack McFairyland". While he was in high school, Jack befriended Will Truman, who was in college and was still in the closet. He encouraged Will to come out and embrace who he is, after which they became really close. Jack later on admitted that he has feelings for Will, which he politely declined ("Lows in the Mid-Eighties"). Coming Out Although Jack is open about his sexuality at the start of the series, they find out in "Homo for the Holidays" that he has not come out to his mother yet, and even told her that Grace and he were a couple. After Will asks him the same question Jack asked him before he himself came out ("aren't you tired yet?"), he eventually comes out to Judith. His mother later confesses that his real father is not Daniel but rather one of the one of the eleven Black brothers of New Canaan, Connecticut, who slept with her at a costume party in 1968. He writes a letter to all of them but finds out later that his real father, Joe Black, is already dead ("Sons and Lovers"). Career Jack has become famous for switching careers frequently (every episode in the earlier seasons), while supporting his acting career. He has become a cabaret singer, cater waiter, backup dancer to Jennifer Lopez and then to Janet Jackson, assistant to Grace, a candidate for the Manhattan Gay Men's Chorus, a sales clerk at Banana Republic and Barney's New York, a student nurse, a surfer, a playwright, a commercial and theater actor, an acting teacher, a magician, a junior executive at Out TV and a talk show host, before ultimately being cast as the lead in the crime drama The Badge as Chuck Rafferty, a straight hard-boiled detective. Starting season five, he also runs Jacques, a one-table café in the hallway outside his front door. Jack has stated that he loves acting because of the attention and the applause ("Speechless"). It has been stated that Will and Karen support Jack while he jumps from career to career and until the the episode "Where There's a Will, There's No Way", he doesn't pay taxes. Personality Portrayed as a flamboyant gay man, Jack has always had a passion for acting and the theater, although his friends frequently express doubt in his abilities. He later graduates from nursing school with flying colors but still expresses that acting is what he wants to do in life ("Speechless"). Jack is also shown to be somewhat slow, that Will claims he could not count to ten ("Courting Disaster"), and that he still labels his shoes "L" and "R" ("The Definition of Marriage"). Strangely, Jack believes in gay rights but seemingly disdains heterosexual relationships, as well as lesbians ("Girl Trouble"), saying that "if God had intended man and woman to be together, he would've given them both penises" ("An Affair To Forget"). According to Will he has the best gaydar in the tristate area. On several episodes, Jack has shown a habit of expressing shock using famous celebrities with long names, such as "Holy Anne Heche Laffoon he's straight!" in "A Chorus Lie"), "Britney Spears Federline, a gym!" in "The Newlyweds", and "Billie Jean King! There are lezzies in this!" in "Girl Trouble". Jack is also implied to be an animal lover, being the owner of Guapo even before the beginning of the series, Klaus Von Puppy since "The Truth About Will and Dogs", and in the fourth season, he and Karen bought Lamar, a horse who turned out to be gay ("Whoa, Nelly"). In the eighth season, Jack donated enough money so two gay penguin will not be separated ("Birds of a Feather Boa"). Fandom Jack unashamedly adores all gay icons particularly Cher, of whom he has a rare doll. He meets her once in "Gypsies, Tramps and Weed", although he mistakes her for a drag queen and declares that he can "do a better Cher than her". Cher slaps him and leaves at which point Jack realizes who she is and faints. Cher reappears in Jack's dream as his personification of god. Jack is also a big fan of pop culture and TV, which helped him in his job as an executive at Out TV. He is a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, particularly lesbian character Willow Rosenberg. He also collects clippings of celebrities' hair, including a complete collection from the four main actresses on The Golden Girls, as well as Broadway icons Bernadette Peters, Betty Buckley, Idina Menzel, and as of season seven, Patti LuPone. Jack is also an active stalker of actor Kevin Bacon. He, along with Grace, also loves figure skating and once even went out with Rudy Galindo. Relationships Will Truman Shortly after they became close, Jack admitted to having feelings for Will, which he politely turned town. Grace Adler Grace and Jack became friends mainly because of Will. They initially expressed that they didn't have anything in common until they discovered they both love figure skating ("Will On Ice"), Antiques Road Show ("Tea And A Total Lack Of Sympathy"), and gay porn ("New Will City") and they begin to bond. Along with Karen, Jack frequently makes fun of Grace's physical attributes as well as her wardrobe. By the start of season three, Grace and Jack had become really close which drove Will jealous. Karen Walker Rosario Salazar Rosario was married to Jack briefly as a favor for Karen who was desperate for Rosario to get a green card. They slept on the same bed at the maid's quarters at Karen's mansion. Judith McFarland Judith is Jack's mother. Joe Black Joe is Jack's biological father. Daniel McFarland Daniel is Jack's father who he later found out to be step-father. Jack recalls that he was cruel to him, growing up, describing him as "miserable" and "homophobic". Rory Rory is an unseen friend of Jack mentioned frequently in the earlier series. Ex-Lovers Jack is known for his several various flings throughout the show. Most of them are mentioned but not shown, and Jack never seems to take any of them seriously or settle down with anyone for very long. Mipanko Mipanko is a guy who stayed with Jack at Will's in "Fear and Clothing". Mipanko's father also slept on the couch. Jack told him he's a Navy SEAL. Rocco Rocco is a guy who dumped Jack and inspired him to start writing his novel To Weep and to Willow: A Harlequeen Romance, which Karen loved. After they got back together, Karen bribed Rocco to dump Jack again so he can continue his novel ("An Old-Fashioned Piano Party"). Stuart Jack's longest relationship is with Stuart Lamarack (Dave Foley), which lasts several months during the sixth season, until Jack cheats on Stuart. Travis Travis is guy from the cowboy bar Jack dated whom he says is "hottest guy he's ever gone out with". After Jack introduces him to Will, Travis hits on him, saying Jack is just an idiot and he is out of his league, which angered Will and caused a bar fight. Later, Will protects Jack's feelings by saying the fight was because Travis insulted him instead of Jack ("Cowboys and Iranians"). Trivia * Sean Hayes' piano skills are often utilized in Jack's performances in Just Jack, Jack 2000, Jack 2001 and others. Hayes is a classically trained pianist. * For his performance as Jack, Sean Hayes has been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series consecutively from 2000 to 2006, winning the first time. Quotes "Heterosexual marriage is just wrong ... If God had intended man and woman to be together, he would've given them both penises." - "An Affair to Forget" I took an oath in front of God and my mother; I'm here, I'm queer, get used to it! - "The Buying Game" There are no straight men, only men who haven't met Jack. - "Girls, Interrupted" There's no shame in getting old. There's only shame in getting ugly. - "The Blonde Leading the Blind" Uh, excuse me. As Aretha said to Gloria, Celine, Shania, and Mariah during Divas Live... "Are you trippin? No one interrupts the Queen of Soul, bitch. Ok?" - "A Chorus Lie" Category:Characters